America's Next Top Model: "The Girl Who Marks Her Territory"Review

Share.

A two-hour premiere narrows the field from 33 to 12.

By Staci Krause

America's Next Top Model premiered Wednesday night. After six successful seasons, Tyra Banks certainly knows she's got something. In this episode, we were introduced to the seventh season cast and the first elimination was made. It was what we come to expect from the show: drama, unusual beauty and Tyra in one neat package. The first two hours certainly promise an exciting season.

Right off the bat, the 33 girls were thrust into a photo shoot when they stepped off the plane. They then got together and had to present themselves one by one to Tyra, J Alexander and Jay Manuel for the initial interview. Christian came out and right away showed off famous Tyra Banks poses. The twins made an impact, but it didn't seem to be positive after Ms. J's comments about them. Megan told a heart-wrenching story about a plane crash she lived through when she was a little girl, one in which her mother died. Right after the interviews, several girls were cut as only 21 moved on to the next round. The remaining contestants were shown hair extensions and make-up and told to make themselves presentable for another photo shoot. This one had a twist, as they would be posing nude. There are always one or two girls who have trouble with this part and this season was no exception. Surely, by now, being season seven, the girls should know they have to pose nude in modeling from time to time. The conservative girl, Ginger, and the small-town girl, Becky, both struggled with the concept. Becky cried a lot but did a great job when it came down to taking the photo. Ginger, on the other hand, only allowed two pictures to be taken and had her body completely concealed during the photos. The judges then convened to decide which 13 would be moving into the top model house.

Megan

The final 13 are Melrose, Jaeda, twins Michelle and Amanda, Eugena, Brooke, Anchal, AJ, Christian, Megg, Megan, CariDee, and Monique. The others, including Ginger, Becky and mother of two Evita, were eliminated at this stage.

The first challenge as a group of 13 involved taking a rock outfit from designers Elmer Ave. and walking the runway in it. Melrose won the challenge, setting her up for a reward that turned out to not be such a great thing. The girls then went to the house they would be living in. Of course, what's a reality show without some artificially created drama? There were 13 girls and only 11 beds. Monique decided she would pour a little water on one of the beds and tell the girls that she peed on the bed, marking her territory. Eugena, who had previously claimed that bed for herself, was none too happy. Of course, this is only the beginning of a series of shots that do not show Monique as being the most cooperative, friendly girl out there. She later told everyone when they were talking about showers that she was not going to change her routine and take shorter showers simply because there were a lot of others who needed to take showers as well. Monique's not a team player.

The next photo shoot was billed as the 'most controversial shoot ever' on the show. Each of the girls was given a stereotype of a model to portray, from anorexic and bulimic models to dumb blonde models. The reward Melrose won came into play here, as she was given a personal assistant and a massage. She got the massage with full make-up on and ended up needing to have her make-up redone, which caused her to be late to the set. She did give Jay a little lip at the set, and this situation did not bode well for her down the line.

Christian

The judges then deliberated and it came down to two girls. Christian, who seemed to have no personality outside of being able to imitate Tyra Banks well, and Melrose were the two on the chopping block. In the end, the judges decided to give Melrose a chance to adjust her attitude and sent Christian home. It is hard to decide this early on who might be the favorite or the most interesting, although Monique certainly set a tone early on for who might be the witchiest. The twins add an interesting mix to the series. They both photographed incredibly well and the make-overs should be really interesting for the two of them. Can't wait!